When the Moon Is Low
Ratings7
Average rating3.9
“Expertly depicting the anxiety and excitement that accompanies a new life, Hashimi’s gripping page-turner is perfect for book clubs.”—Library Journal (starred review) Mahmoud’s passion for his wife, Fereiba, a schoolteacher, is greater than any love she’s ever known. But their happy, middle-class world implodes when their country is engulfed in war and the Taliban rises to power. When Mahmoud becomes a target of the new fundamentalist regime and is murdered, Fereiba is forced to flee Kabul with their three children. Finding a way to her reach her sister’s family in England is her one hope to survive. With forged papers and help from kind strangers they meet along the way, Fereiba manages to smuggle the children as far as Greece. But in a busy market square, their fate takes a frightening turn when her teenage son, Saleem, becomes separated from the rest of the family. Faced with an impossible choice, Fereiba pushes on with her daughter and baby, while Saleem falls into the shadowy underground network of undocumented Afghans who haunt the streets of Europe’s capitals. Across the continent Fereiba and Saleem struggle to reunite, exhausted but undefeated, and ultimately find a place where they can be a family again.
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That was an emotional roller coaster of a read for sure. Hashimi makes us feel for Fereiba and then make us fall in love with Mahmoud as Fereiba did, this is the story of an announced death, we know the happiness will not last even if we would very much like it to and then she takes us through a journey or loss and exile that isn't over by the time we part with the characters.
The first part of the book is definitely stronger than the end which was sort of unsatisfying in a way that feels deliberate, as if to say there is no truly happy ending or even really an ending to such stories. When the main character shifts from Fereiba to Saleem it's really hit or miss, sometimes it's emotionally devastating sometimes it's a bit tedious, that's the only reason this isn't a 5 stars book for me.
This book was a full five stars until the end. I have to admit, I don't quite know what happened. I would normally dismiss a book for an unsatisfactory ending, but this one was different.
It somehow worked.
A family committed to Afghanistan, stayed too long in the country, and had to flee. Their journey is rife with problems as refugees, the least of which is the separation it forced them to endure.
But why I can live with the ending is because Saleem was just so amazing. His growth from child to man was beautifully told. His drive for family, admirable. I couldn't get enough Saleem.
One the surface the mother was strong, but expending her strength wore on her and I think her arc was beautiful and tragic.
An interesting look also at the plight of many forced to leave Afghanistan when the Taliban first took power. In light of the Taliban's takeover again, this book–although fictional–sheds light on a country in turmoil and a sex oppressed.
